Irecently had a problem with my teeth hurting, which is always no fun. I brush and floss and cut out most sugar and wheat, so it's not like I had really done anything wrong! But since I was born with deep teeth it's difficult to really take care of them. I wanted to find a type of at home natural solution and discovered something called "Oil Pulling". I tried this out for a week, based on This Website, and wanted to share some discoveries that I made.

First, how does Oil Pulling work? Simply put, oil has antibacterial properties to it. That's why a lot of people try to take Olive Oil tablets, or favor it above Butter, etc. The oil seeps into your gums and the crevices of your teeth and cleans everything out over time. People use it on their skin to cleanse their pores, and it's also used for baths to soften your skin, or as a hair mask to revitalize damaged hair. Using oil for health benefits isn't anything new, if you think about how many people used fragrant oils in their baths in the Middle East thousands of years ago. Sometimes the old ways are the best ways.

If you eat it and use it to improve your skin and hair, why not use it to clean your mouth as well? It doesn't really sound that strange when you think about it. It's been said that they found text suggesting this technique was used a very long time ago by Ayurvedic Indians. Because your mouth is pretty much connected to the rest of your body, it's important to keep it clean. Oil Pulling is supposed to not only improve the health of your teeth and mouth, but the rest of your body as well, and helps calm (help cure or control) diabetes, endometriosis, abscess, joint pain, acne, etc. I don't really have any health problems that I can test this theory with, but I'm just going by testimonies of other people. I did this to help whiten my teeth, clean my mouth, and take away the sensitivity and soreness that I had. As far as that goes, it worked!

So what kind of oil do you use for this, and how do you do it? They say the best oils to use are Unrefined if possible. These can be more expensive, but you don't want the oil to be too processed. The top three oils that are suggested are Sesame, Coconut, and Sunflower. Since the Coconut Oil I have is a bit pricey, I opted for Sesame instead. How it's done is really simple, and is about doing it right.

1. You need an empty stomach, as in not even water. Get the Oil Pulling done when you first wake up and haven't eaten or drank anything yet.

2. Get out your oil, melt it down to a liquid if it's a solid and unrefined oil. You need about 1 Tablespoon of it for each use. I used a little bit less myself because as it sat in my mouth it mixes with saliva and can get to be too much.

3. Gently swish it around your mouth for 10-20 minutes. If you swish too hard your jaw can get sore and you won't be able to have the oil in your mouth as long. Just gently swish it around. When you first start it's difficult and you may only be able to do 5 minutes, so work your way up. It gets easier each day you do it.

4. After you spit it out (at this point it will have a white color to it), swish some warm salt water in your mouth to clean out the oil. After that you can brush your teeth or drink some water.

5. Now you're done! Just repeat this every day, or every now and then. I did it every morning for a week, some people do it for months straight.

That's pretty much it! No fancy techniques or equipment necessary, just oil and some patience. Try not to swallow the oil or let it spill out of your mouth, and take it slow and steady.

After three days I started to see results. My teeth looked whiter and my mouth wasn't sore anymore! My mouth just felt healthier overall. I can't quite say if it helped calm my acne or not, because I was also changing cleansers at the time. All I know is that it was easy to do, is a cheap way to keep up oral hygiene, and gave results. You can try this out yourself and see how it works for you as well. If you have tried Oil Pulling before, let me know how it turned out for you in the comments! I know this is a pretty short and random post, but I thought I should just write about how it worked in case anyone was curious. I'll probably continue in the future and see if I get any new results, but for now I'm happy with what I got!